Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963 1686-1963 Mss.B.P31
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Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963 1686-1963 Mss.B.P31 American Philosophical Society 105 South Fifth Street Philadelphia, PA, 19106 215-440-3400 [email protected] Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963 Table of Contents Summary Information ................................................................................................................................. 3 Background note ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Scope & content ........................................................................................................................................13 Related Materials ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Indexing Terms ......................................................................................................................................... 14 Other Descriptive Information ..................................................................................................................17 Other Descriptive Information ..................................................................................................................17 Other Descriptive Information ..................................................................................................................17 Collection Inventory ..................................................................................................................................18 Series 1: Correspondence...................................................................................................................... 18 Series 2: Works by Peale-Sellers family.............................................................................................412 Series 3: Legal and Financial Records................................................................................................439 Series 4: Niagara Falls Business Records and Correspondence......................................................... 481 Series 5: Tickets, Awards and Certificates......................................................................................... 493 Series 6: Graphics................................................................................................................................496 Series 7: Volumes................................................................................................................................512 - Page 2 - Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963 Summary Information Repository American Philosophical Society Creator Peale-Sellers families. Title Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963 Date [inclusive] 1686-1963 Call number Mss.B.P31 Extent 19.0 Linear feet 38 Boxes; 147 Volumes Location LH-MV-C-15; LH-MV-E-4to5 (Series 7); LH-SB-Black Case-28-29 (OS); LH-SB-XOS Case 1-5 (XOS, fam geneaology); LH-SB-XOS Case 2-7 (XOS Diplomas) Language English Container 1-38 Container 1-147 Abstract The Peale family is best known as a family of artists; however, family interests and activities were much more wide-ranging. The best known Peale is Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827, APS 1786), who produced more than one thousand paintings, including hundreds of portraits of leading Americans during the colonial and early national periods. Peale was married three times, to Rachel Brewster (1744-1790), Elizabeth de Peyster (1765-1804), and Hannah More (1755-1821). He had eighteen children, eleven of whom reached adulthood. Three of Charles Willson Peale’s sons became artists: Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825), Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), and Rubens Peale (1784-1865). A fourth son, Titian - Page 3 - Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963 Ramsay Peale (1799-1885, APS 1833), was a naturalist (who made drawings on the exploring expeditions he accompanied) and pioneer in photography, and another son, Benjamin Franklin Peale (1795-1870), became a naturalist and paleontologist. Peale’s daughter Sophonisba Angusciola was married to Coleman Sellers (1781-1834), an inventor and manufacturer of machinery, including locomotives. Two of their sons, George Escol Sellers (1808-1899) and Coleman Sellers (1827-1907, APS 1872), were inventors and engineers. The latter served as director of the construction of the hydro-electric power development at Niagara Falls. He was married to Cornelia Wells Sellers (1831-1909). One of their grandsons was Charles Coleman Sellers (1903-1980, APS 1979), a librarian and historian and the author of several studies of the Peale family, including a Charles Willson Peale biography. - Page 4 - Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963 Background note The Peale family is best known as a family of artists; however, family interests and activities were much more wide-ranging. The best known Peale is Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827, APS 1786), who produced more than one thousand paintings, including hundreds of portraits of leading Americans during the colonial and early national periods. Peale was married three times, to Rachel Brewster (1744-1790), Elizabeth de Peyster (1765-1804), and Hannah More (1755-1821). He had eighteen children, eleven of whom reached adulthood. Three of Charles Willson Peale’s sons became artists: Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825), Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), and Rubens Peale (1784-1865). A fourth son, Titian Ramsay Peale (1799-1885, APS 1833), was a naturalist (who made drawings on the exploring expeditions he accompanied) and pioneer in photography, and another son, Benjamin Franklin Peale (1795-1870), became a naturalist and paleontologist. Peale’s daughter Sophonisba Angusciola was married to Coleman Sellers (1781-1834), an inventor and manufacturer of machinery, including locomotives. Two of their sons, George Escol Sellers (1808-1899) and Coleman Sellers (1827-1907, APS 1872), were inventors and engineers. The latter served as director of the construction of the hydro-electric power development at Niagara Falls. He was married to Cornelia Wells Sellers (1831-1909). One of their grandsons was Charles Coleman Sellers (1903-1980, APS 1979), a librarian and historian and the author of several studies of the Peale family, including a Charles Willson Peale biography. Charles Willson Peale was born in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland, in 1741. His father Charles had been banished from Britain to the colonies for embezzling funds while working as a clerk in the General Post Office at London. By 1740 the elder Charles was employed as a teacher in Annapolis; later that year he married Margaret Triggs. The couple lived in modest circumstances. They had five children. Charles Willson’s father died when he was still a boy. At the age of twelve Charles was apprenticed to Nathan Waters, a saddle maker in Annapolis. In 1762, Charles opened his own shop; that same year he married Rachel Brewer. The couple eventually had eleven children, six of whom reached adulthood. They also adopted Peale’s orphaned nephew Charles Peale Polk. Peale struggled to support his family as a saddler. Within a couple of years, he added first upholstery and harness making, and then watch and clock repair to his business. He also tried his hand at painting. In 1763 he began to advertise himself as a sign painter. That year, he also received his first painting instruction. His teacher was the prolific portrait painter John Hesselius, the son of Gustavus Hesselius, America's first portrait painter of note. Peale wrote in his autobiography that he traded one of his best saddles for the opportunity to watch the younger Hesselius paint. Soon his talent attracted the attention of several members of the local gentry, including Charles Carroll, Governor Horatio Sharpe, Daniel Dulaney, and Benedict Calvert, who decided to provide funds for young Peale to study with Benjamin West in London. Peale stayed in London from 1767 to 1769, during which time he completed two full-length portraits of William Pitt. He also prepared an engraving of the painting for sale in North America. Furthermore, Peale met Benjamin Franklin, who had been acquainted with his father, and he visited the studios of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Francis Cotes, and Allen Ramsey. For six years after his return to North America, Peale made his home in Annapolis. Here he gave lessons in painting to his brothers St. George (1745-1788) and James (1749-1831). The latter subsequently - Page 5 - Peale-Sellers Family Collection, 1686-1963 became a notable miniature painter; two of James' daughters, Anna Claypole (1791-1878) and Sarah Miriam (1800-1885), would become professional painters as well. During this period Charles Willson also traveled throughout the middle colonies to paint the portraits of prominent figures. In 1772 he visited Mt. Vernon to paint the first of what would ultimately be seven life portraits of George Washington. In 1775 Peale moved to Philadelphia in hopes of increased patronage. Demand for his portraits was indeed rising, and he was busy with commissions from several prominent families. Peale was an ardent supporter of the Revolution, joining the city militia as a private, rosing to the rank of first lieutenant, and participating in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. He painted several officers and also sometimes their wives at various encampments, including portraits of Arthur St. Clair, Benjamin Lincoln, Nathanael Greene, and his well-known full-length painting of Washington at the Battle of Princeton. After the evacuation of Philadelphia